Canada-EU sees $27 bln in gains from freer trade

The European Union and Canada would stand to gain about $27 billion a year by liberalizing bilateral trade further, according to a joint study issued on Thursday on the eve of their annual summit.

The study will help guide talks on Friday between Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who holds the rotating European presidency, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

The leaders will look at how to alleviate the financial crisis in the short term but also at how to promote growth in the longer term, something one Canadian official said may be seen as more urgent at a time of slowdown.

The study estimated the annual real income gain by 2014 would be 11.6 billion euros ($15.7 billion) for the EU, representing 0.08 percent of EU gross domestic product.

The gain for Canada would be less at about 8.2 billion euros ($11.1 billion) but would represent a bigger share of Canadian gross domestic product at 0.8 percent.

The leaders are expected to direct their officials to select areas where the two sides can work toward further liberalization, whether by cutting already generally low tariffs or by reducing non-tariff barriers like cumbersome regulations.